Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon. Did not think that either one of these would be this consistent. If you take away Jr's 43rd at Texas because of the wreck, and his 24th at Bristol because of the mechanical failure, and take out the wild card crapshoot of 'Dega, his worst finish this year is 12th. Jeff has also been consistent, and that 24 group will get a win pretty soon if they keep running how they are.

AJ Allmendinger-JTG Daughtry Racing crap, and he's got that sucker 15th in points. If he can steal a win at a Road Course or Daytona in July, they'll be almost a lock for the Chase.

Kyle Larson-13th in points, did not expect him to be running up front so much in his rookie year.

Austin Dillon- See above, 14th in points.

Joey Logano-2 Wins already, he's become a different driver since leaving Joe Gibbs Racing, and he's already lead more laps at Penske in 1 and about a quarter year than what he did in 4 years at JGR.

Brian Vickers-The MWR team, which, let's be honest, struggled the second half of last year, has gotten that 55 car 10th in the points standings, and if they could get their pit crew problems out of the way, they could be even higher.

My surprises so far (bad):

Stewart Haas Racing- Sure, they have two wins this year from Harvick, and one from Kurt, but they are inconsistent as all get out, and Tony and Danica are struggling. I know Tony is coming off of an injury, but I expected him to have regained his mojo by now. Danica is in too good of equipment to be running in the back of the pack with FRM and BK Racing.

Kasey Kahne- The other 3 HMS drivers are too good this year for him to be 20th in points. With how fast Chase Elliott is progressing, don't be surprised to see him in the 5 within the next two years, and Kahne out.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr- Same story as his girlfriend. Roush equipment, while not as good as Penske it seems, is still too good to be running in the back of the pack week in and week out. He's shown some shimmers of greatness, but not enough to impress anyone.

So, yesterday Jr stole the win from Brad K at Pocono with 5 laps to go, and this makes 2014 Dale Jr's first multi-win season since 2004!

It's great to see Jr get more than one win in a year, especially considering all the second place finishes they've had. It's nice to see them finally win because of someone else's misfortune and not them losing because of theirs. Steve Letarte has definitely helped Jr rejuvenate that 88 team and Jr's career.

Tragic week in NASCAR...I really feel terribly for Tony Stewart, especially after the media were so quick to jump with the headlines of "Tony kills fellow driver" and other like sensationalist headlines. I really don't understand what makes a driver think it's ok to run out on a green/yellow track, but the guy was still a kid, and I guess emotions just got the best of his logic. Terrible shame he was taken so young, and I hope that Tony is able to cope with this...what a weight on ones shoulders from a freak accident.

First off, congrats to AJ Allmendinger, Tad and Jodi Geschickter, Brad Daughtery, and that whole 47 team for picking up the win at the Glen. We've got an underdog team in the chase, like last year with FRM and Kurt.

Man, that racing between Marcos and AJ was crazy. Marcos is a road course ace, and beating him at a road course while having a dog fight with him is a huge accomplishment.

In terms of the Kevin Ward incident, I am truly sorry he lost his life, but in the end, I believe it's his fault. Visibility was poor and if you look at the videos, drivers were swerving to miss him, and Stewart just didn't swerve in time. I do hope Tony is able to recover from the shock he must have been in from Saturday night.

what a load of crap. Tony himself has ran onto the track many times himself. he was trying to get cute and throw a little dirt on someone who was calling him out. you can hear him gas the throttle, when under caution by the way, and it went wrong for the both of them

He's retiring from NASCAR so I honestly think his life is changing for the worse...I can't even imagine the guilt he's probably stricken with, and truly, only he knows what went down in full form, and he has to live with that.

He's retiring from NASCAR so I honestly think his life is changing for the worse...I can't even imagine the guilt he's probably stricken with, and truly, only he knows what went down in full form, and he has to live with that.

Oh wow! I hadn't heard that he was retiring. The guilt and/or sorrow indeed must be weighing heavily on him, and you're right, only he knows what happened in regard to whether or not it was intentional.

He's retiring from NASCAR so I honestly think his life is changing for the worse...I can't even imagine the guilt he's probably stricken with, and truly, only he knows what went down in full form, and he has to live with that.

I hadn't read that article, I was just going on the word on the NASCAR forum I go to...but if the announcement was a hoax, I'm glad, because I certainly don't want him to retire...I actually like him, always have.

that's my point exactly. he should not be allowed to race until the investigation is done

but no. his ego is even bigger than we can imagine. he claims he took 3 races off out respect for the Ward family. i wonder if they appreciate him driving again so soon. doubt it. what a freakin joke

Guilty until proven guilty huh? Ouch.

Nothing he says or does will make anyone who views him as a murderer feel any differently than your posts reflect, but then if he said nothing, it'd probably just be the same scenario. Only Stewart knows what actually happened...the video doesn't give any of us evidence to burn him or exonerate him...and in the end, he has to live with that.